New on board

[Darkwing]

Hello,

I'm new here, recently got interested in the Morrow Project. Never played it, never saw it in the store, but I always heard about it, and liked the idea, so a little searching, and here I am.

I play and/or run FASATrek, Star Wars, Timelords (2E), D&D 3.5, Runequest, Traveller, 2300AD, Top Secret (NOT S.I.), Star Frontiers, Marvel Super heroes, and occasionally other things.

I recently started thinking about running a Thundarr-based campaign, and it occurred to me that a source of PCs might be a Morrow Project-like group, so I started looking things up. Now I'm thinking an MP game might be fun on it's own, as well.

For me, post-apocalypic games and literature go back to Alas, Babylon and A Canticle For Liebowitz.

This brings me to a possibly controversial suggestion. How many of y'all dislike Bruce the time-traveler? I think a precog with a bit of telepathy to help convince people is a better idea. I know if I were a time-traveler with a silver tongue, I'd probably pull Ike aside and tell him to make sure the Interstate fallout shelters get built according to plan, instead of deleted. I'd visit the Joint Chiefs and tell them to squirrel away more huge supply caches, and do everything I could to push the public building their own shelters.

The disadvantage of making Bruce just a precognitive is that you have less high-tech - no Resist Weve, no fusion energy, no laser weapons. OTOH, radio-isotope generators were available, and this would excuse pushing to make them small enough to power a vehicle without fossil fuel.

The other thing I noticed is that y'all seem to have very small shelters. Before I saw the material, I had envisioned shelters inserted into unused mines and caves with a population of 50-200, with a maintenance element that was woken on a schedule to check and repair the freezers and equipment, and a recon element to be woken up and sent out when scheduled or if anything unexpected happened. This also meant that if a freezer failed, the team had replacements available, and when specialists were needed, you just thawed them out. If Eddy can't make the game, tonight's team is made up of most of the PCs plus John running his second character, a guy with Eddy's specialty from another team at the shelter.

Yeah, there'd be more equipment and supplies, but also a chain of command who decides what to issue the PCs and reins in their wilder requests and to occasionally remind them why they're there and why the cache has to last.
When the PCs run through too much ammo, their supervisor can blast them for the waste and reduce their issue for next time to make them less profligate, but he's also available as voice for the gamemaster to help the PCs with suggestions when they're stuck.

So, glad to be here, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on my ideas.
Darkwing

"Blessed Saint Liebowitz, keep 'em dreaming down there!" -Astronaut Randy Claggett, Space, James Michener

[Matt W]

Welcome, Darkwing! Hopefully, Saint Canard can be spared the worst of the Apocalypse.

We don't often see newbies to the game, so perhaps you'll let me sketch over some of the things that come up again, and again?

Bruce as time-traveller has been argued over for, well, decades. Is he visiting the future? An alternate Universe? A possible future? Does that future change every time he "returns"? It gets messy.

Then you have the "Is Bruce Good or Evil?" discussion. Which gets even worse

And when you refer to "shelters", do you mean bases? Or the places where a team's cryotubes are hidden (usually called boltholes). Again, the exact structure of the Morrow Project has ben argued over. It's usually best to go with whatever works for you and the players

Having said that, an active chain of command is something that a number of Project Directors have experimented with. It's sometimes referred to as an "awake" or "semi-awake" Project. It has advantages and disadvantages.

Personally, I like the idea of a "semi-awake" Morrow Project consisting of something like a specialist Task Force (probably with about 200 to 300 people)

And - if you want an example - Recon CA-4 is an ongoing example of this sort of thing http://henrick.com/ca4/ I recommend it.

Matt W

[Matt W]

Welcome, Darkwing! Hopefully, Saint Canard can be spared the worst of the Apocalypse.

We don't often see newbies to the game, so perhaps you'll let me sketch over some of the things that come up again, and again?

Bruce as time-traveller has been argued over for, well, decades. Is he visiting the future? An alternate Universe? A possible future? Does that future change every time he "returns"? It gets messy.

Then you have the "Is Bruce Good or Evil?" discussion. Which gets even worse

And when you refer to "shelters", do you mean bases? Or the places where a team's cryotubes are hidden (usually called boltholes). Again, the exact structure of the Morrow Project has ben argued over. It's usually best to go with whatever works for you and the players

Having said that, an active chain of command is something that a number of Project Directors have experimented with. It's sometimes referred to as an "awake" or "semi-awake" Project. It has advantages and disadvantages.

Personally, I like the idea of a "semi-awake" Morrow Project consisting of something like a specialist Task Force (probably with about 200 to 300 people)

And - if you want an example - Recon CA-4 is an ongoing example of this sort of thing http://henrick.com/ca4/ I recommend it.

Matt W

[Darkwing]

Originally Posted by Matt W

Welcome, Darkwing! Hopefully, Saint Canard can be spared the worst of the Apocalypse.

Thanks.

Bruce as time-traveller has been argued over for, well, decades. Is he visiting the future? An alternate Universe? A possible future? Does that future change every time he "returns"? It gets messy.

Well, when I first read that he was a time-traveler, I thought that was unnecessary, and that at most a good precog could fill the role, although a Council that simply sees the possibility of WWIII would suffice as justification. So I wanted to see how many others here had had similar thoughts.

Then you have the "Is Bruce Good or Evil?" discussion. Which gets even worse

Not interested - the project is a good idea either way, so even if he were evil, I wouldn't want to bust him til TEOTWAWKI.

I started out envisioning a Thundarr / Horseclans post-apocalyptic world with D&D 3.5 / GW1 and a touch of Saberhagen's Empire of the East, when it occurred to me that there might be sleepers from our world, which made me think of MP, so I started looking into it, which has me thinking about a straight MP game, now, too.

So, comments, suggestions, ideas?

[mikeo80]

We do not have many new persons to The Morrow Project. Welcome! Send us your ideas on how you see TMP working in your universe.

As stated above, we have discussed Bruce Morrow, TMP and many assorted topics. We even number some of the original developers and new developers here as well. Read all of Nate Hale's posts. He is one of the most prolific supporters of TMP.

Hope to see more of your posts!

Mike

[Matt W]

Originally Posted by Darkwing

I started out envisioning a Thundarr / Horseclans post-apocalyptic world with D&D 3.5 / GW1 and a touch of Saberhagen's Empire of the East, when it occurred to me that there might be sleepers from our world, which made me think of MP, so I started looking into it, which has me thinking about a straight MP game, now, too.

So, comments, suggestions, ideas?

So, are you looking for advice on setting up a "straight" MP game or a semi-fantasy game?

[Darkwing]

Originally Posted by Matt W

So, are you looking for advice on setting up a "straight" MP game or a semi-fantasy game?

Both. As soon as I get some players, I intend to run the Thundarr game, but I'd also be building notes for a later straight MP game. Down the road, I'm thinking of applying the MP idea to Traveller.

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by Darkwing

Both. As soon as I get some players, I intend to run the Thundarr game, but I'd also be building notes for a later straight MP game. Down the road, I'm thinking of applying the MP idea to Traveller.

Well, you may want to start by watching a few shows of a series called "After Humans", you see it on the Discovery Channel every so often. Its a useful look at what the world would look like 150+ years down the road. Useful for getting an idea of what may last...and what it would look like.

Next, pick an area that you would like to place a team. I like to start with a state and research it, where are the people, the cities and towns; how are the roads, highways, railroads laid out; what about lakes, rivers, streams and creeks; natural resources such as oil, natural gas, minerals; what types of industry; military bases to include the national guard, any ammo plants or depots. Once you have a good overview, now comes the hard part...

Look over the TM1-1 target list, take the time to check the various FEMA, Civil Defense, nuclear warfare websites and develop a good feel for what and why a location may be nuked, as well as possible fallout patterns.

Decide how large a Project you will run. Do you follow the old Timelines method and through a dart at a map and there your team will start? Do you have Regions and Regional Command Bases? Just how many teams will be in your operating area? Sizes? Roles?

Maps. I say it again, maps; road maps, topographical maps are especially useful, get a decent highway atlas and then pick out likely locations to bury teams and their supply caches. Place any supply depots, command bases, etc. Where will the MARS teams go?

Now you are ready to organize a team...so what kind of team are you looking to run? A MARS Team would expect lots of action, guns blazing sorta thing, a Science Team would be better suited for players more into the nuts and bolts approach, a Recon Team would be the first ones out, with the job of exploring the area and determining where the Project can be of use. For a first time PD, a Recon Team may be the better choice, it allows for a more free-wheeling approach.

Size of the team will be important. In TM1-1, it is suggested that teams can be as few as 2-3 people. In a real life situation, this would be very unlikely. I perfer a team of twelve in 2-3 vehicles. This allows for enough people to cover those dull but necessary jobs. SO yes you most likely need to develop a few NPCs.

Hope this helps!

[Darkwing]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Well, you may want to start by watching a few shows of a series called "After Humans", you see it on the Discovery Channel every so often. Its a useful look at what the world would look like 150+ years down the road. Useful for getting an idea of what may last...and what it would look like.

I saw one of those - didn't know it was a series.

Next, pick an area that you would like to place a team. I like to start with a state and research it, where are the people, the cities and towns; how are the roads, highways, railroads laid out; what about lakes, rivers, streams and creeks; natural resources such as oil, natural gas, minerals; what types of industry; military bases to include the national guard, any ammo plants or depots. Once you have a good overview, now comes the hard part...

That's a little more detail than we put in researching Tincup, CO a few years back for T2K game, although we did drive up there.

Maps. I say it again, maps; road maps, topographical maps are especially useful, get a decent highway atlas and then pick out likely locations to bury teams and their supply caches. Place any supply depots, command bases, etc. Where will the MARS teams go?

I'm a Quartermaster, so I'm big on maps and charts.

Size of the team will be important. In TM1-1, it is suggested that teams can be as few as 2-3 people. In a real life situation, this would be very unlikely. I perfer a team of twelve in 2-3 vehicles. This allows for enough people to cover those dull but necessary jobs. SO yes you most likely need to develop a few NPCs.

Hope this helps!

I would probably organize it as a platoon, with each squad being made up of one set of PCs, the other squad being their second characters. That way, when someone can't make the game, someone else can play a fill-in from the other squad as a second character to cover any skill/role gaps.
It'll be my first game of TMP, but hardly my first post-apocalyptic game. Thanks for the help!

[Darkwing]

I enjoy combining games and genres. One of my early campaigns was inspired by Red Sector A (Rush). I combined Top Secret 1e with 2300AD and Friday (Heinlein). I moved Friday's Boss' organization (System Enterprises, inc) to Canada, outside Toronto, and had the PCs play spies all up and down the French and American arms for a while. Then I called them home. As they were landing, they saw a nuclear burst over the city, and an egyptian sarcophagus crashed down by their shuttle. Inside, they found a horribly burned corpse clutching a metal object like an unreasonably heavy d20. The players didn't realize they were about to become time travelers!

I moved them to Timelords 2e right on schedule, and pushed them through a tourist's view of history for a while before they found themselves in ancient Egypt. There, they found another time traveler calling himself Ser-Taspes. Spoiling his plans and freeing the locals from his oppression made them an enemy for life. He dedicated himself to destroying them, and eventually he captured them on his spaceship.

Before they killed him, he armed a nuke and prepped his escape device: A specially built sarcophagus with the aforementioned bomb on a rack, and a matrix (the d20 object) inside. The players found that it had a precursor field up that would detonate the bomb if they tried to use their matrix to leave, and it was counting down. They didn't disappoint me: after an argument, one of them volunteered to use the matrix in the sarcophagus to jump the bomb away, hoping he could drop it and jump back before it blew.

Since time was running out, he didn't take the time to attune it to himself so he could select a new jump point - he jumped to Ser-Taspes' pre-programmed point. The last thing he saw as the lid fell off of the sarcophagus was an aerial view of Toronto...the players were stunned until I mentioned that this was what I had been working towards since the campaign started and that the whole thing had come to me listening to that song - and they had wondered why I had made that the theme song of the campaign! The pillows started flying, although one player was pissed off all over again because now they knew I had killed Mr. Two-Canes with malice aforethought!

So, anyone got a similar story? Feel free to ah, re-appropriate the idea...

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by Darkwing

I saw one of those - didn't know it was a series.

There are at least eight episodes that I've seen over the past year, there is some good stuff that can be twisted by a PD

That's a little more detail than we put in researching Tincup, CO a few years back for T2K game, although we did drive up there.

Its actually surprisingly easy to track down the critical stuff for the area. Besides, there is always that one player you just happened to have lived or dated someone from there. Best be prepared.

I would probably organize it as a platoon, with each squad being made up of one set of PCs, the other squad being their second characters. That way, when someone can't make the game, someone else can play a fill-in from the other squad as a second character to cover any skill/role gaps.
It'll be my first game of TMP, but hardly my first post-apocalyptic game. Thanks for the help!

The size of theam really depends on what their mission is, a Recon Team would be expected to be light and mobile, so anything more than a dozen people and 2-3 vehicles would bog things down. A MARS Team, yeah, a platoon would be about right. A Science Team, not more than a dozen or so at most. Speciality Teams, Timeline takes the approach that these are larger groupings for a specific mission, like a team to assist local farmers, or secure and reactivate a nuclear power plant, or a critical installation, so their size is very dependent on the basic mission.